The Distinguished Professorships in the Humanities are funded by income from an endowment created by an NEH Challenge Grant awarded to the College of Arts and Sciences. The college created the professorships to recognize extraordinary and ongoing achievements by senior scholars in the humanities. Each professorship provides an annual salary supplement of $8,000 plus $1,000 for research support.
In determining eligibility for the Distinguished Professorships in the Humanities, the college relies on the following definition, found on the website of the National Endowment for the Humanities:
The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.
Nominations of qualified faculty members will be accepted from any of the following units: Anthropology, School of Art, Classics, English, History, Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, School of Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Religious Studies, Sociology, and Theatre.
Nominees must hold terminal degrees in their respective disciplines, be tenured full professors with at least ten years of service, and have served at least five years as a UT Knoxville faculty member.
Current holders of Distinguished Professorships in the Humanities may be re-nominated for another term. A list of current and past holders of the professorships appear below.
Nominations must include the following items:
- a letter of recommendation from the nominee’s department head
- a report of a vote by the tenured faculty on the nomination
- the nominee’s current vita (limited to ten pages)
- an example of the nominee’s recent scholarship (published within the last five years and limited to one book or two articles)
- a brief statement (1,000 words) by the nominee describing his/her current scholarly project(s)
- a detailed timetable for the project(s) described in 5, above
Nominations for Distinguished Humanities Professorships are due to college office by May 2, 2022. Please send all materials electronically (except for books, where applicable) to the attention of Marla Roberts.
Nominations will be reviewed by an appointed committee of senior faculty members. The dean will make final selections based on the recommendations of this committee. If you have any questions regarding the Distinguished Professorships in the Humanities or any aspect of the nomination criteria or procedure, please contact Marla Roberts.
Recipients
| Length of Award | Recipient | Department |
| 2020-2025 | Amy Elias | English |
| 2020-2025 | Gregory Kaplan | Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures |
| 2020-2025 | Lois Presser | Sociology |
| 2018-2023 | LaVinia Jennings | English |
| 2018-2023 | Roy Liuzza | English |
| 2018-2023 | Ernest Freeberg | History |
| 2018-2023 | Mary McAlpin | Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures |
| 2017-2022 | Vejas Liulevicius | History |
| 2017-2022 | Adrian Del Caro | Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures |
| 2015-2020 | Daniel Feller | History |
| 2015-2020 | Gregory Kaplan | Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures |
| 2015-2020 | David Reidy | Philosophy |
| 2014-2019 | Nancy Henry | English |
| 2014-2019 | Tom Burman | History |
| 2013–2018 | La Vinia Jennings | English |
| 2013–2018 | Ernest Freeberg | History |
| 2013–2018 | Dorothy Habel | Art |
| 2013–2018 | Michael Handelsman | Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures |
| 2012–2017 | Adrian Del Caro | Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures |
| 2010–2015 | David Reidy | Philosophy |
| 2010–2015 | Ernest Freeberg | History |
| 2009–2014 | Tom Burman | History |
| 2009–2014 | Stanton Garner | English |
| 2008–2013 | Dorothy Habel | Art |
| 2008–2013 | Michael Handelsman | Modern Foreign Languages & Literature |
| 2008–2013 | Palmira Brummett | History |
| 2008–2010 | Stephen Ash | History |
| 2006–2009 | Nancy Goslee | English |
| 2003–2008 | Palmira Brummett | History |
| 2003–2008 | Dorothy Habel | Art |
| 2003–2008 | Rosalind Hackett | Religious Studies |
| 2003–2008 | Michael Handelsman | Modern Foreign Languages & Literature |
| 2003–2008 | Robert (B.J.) Leggett | English |
| 2003–2008 | David Tandy | Classics |
| 2003–2006 | Charles Faulkner | Anthropology |
| 2002–2003 | Rosalind Hackett (1-yr. appointment) | Religious Studies |
| 1998 – 2003 | Richard Aquila | Philosophy |
| 1998 – 2003 | Charles Faulkner | Anthropology |
| 1998 – 2003 | Robert Gorman | Political Science |
| 1998 – 2003 | Michael Handelsman | Romance Languages |
| 1998 – 2003 | Robert (B.J.) Leggett | English |
| 1998 – 2003 | David Tandy | Classics |
| 1998 – 2002 | David Dungan (retired 2002) | Religious Studies |